Tips To Help You Prepare A Home For Your New Pet Fish
Fish provide enjoyment to you and your family while giving you the opportunity to observe them in their natural environment and educate your children. Here are three tips to help you get started as a fish owner to prepare a home for your new fish.
Find a Good Tank Location
Before you can add water, gravel, fish, and other tank accessories to your fish tank, you need to find a good location inside your home to place the tank. Choose a location that does not get a lot of traffic, so the fish are not stressed unnecessarily with constant comings and goings. Find a surface that will hold the fish tank and its weight, which can be quite heavy. A cabinet, dresser, desk, or sturdy table are all good surfaces to support your tank.
Make sure the tank is not in front of a window, as sunlight shining onto your fish tank can cause excess algae to bloom. This can cloud the water inside your fish tank, making the water dirty, and can cause problems for your fish. Also, make sure the tank is not near an air conditioner or vent, or heat vent or other heat source. The water temperature you keep inside the tank is an important part of keeping your fish alive.
Provide Tank Light
Part of keeping your tropical fish healthy includes providing them with the right amount of light. Your fish tank should have a tank light that you can switch on and off. It is recommended to provide from eight to twelve hours of light to your fish, but an average of ten hours is a good balance.
Turning the light off helps prevent excess algae growth and gives your fish their required dark time so they can rest. Turning your tank lights on can help give any live plants in your tank their required light for growth and can help illuminate the colors on your fish to help you enjoy watching them. A timer installed on your tank light is a good way to help you maintain the right light and dark balance.
Prepare the Water
Before you add fish to your tank water, it is important to condition the water and make it a healthy environment for them. If you are adding tap water from your faucet, it's a good idea to add a supplement to the water to create the proper pH for your fish. You can find de-chlorinating and biological supplements at a pet supply store to add to your fish tank water.
Next, it is important to place a tank heater inside the tank water to keep the tank water at the optimal temperature for your fish. Fish depend on the water in their environment to keep their bodies warm and without warm water they can die.
Use these tips to help you prepare the fish tank for your new fish. For more information, contact companies like Neptune's Tropical Fish.